Bio

I was raised by Cowboys and Indians in the middle of nowhere, Nevada. My best friends as a kid were my golden retriever, a pair of boots, and my Red Ryder BB-Gun [with a compass in the stock]. The majority of my childhood was filled with hunting, fishing, and exploring the vast natural world around me, which was intertwined with 13 years of Boy Scouts. All this is the source of my passion for community service, my undying love for the natural world, and some of my more animalistic qualities.

After I left my small town, I got a degree in Computer Science and accumulated about a decade of professional experience across the world. This includes several years in East Africa where I was a director for a forestry NGO. Now, I am pursuing an MPA with the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance where I research risk management and decision-making in wildfire management. I am also pursuing an MS with the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, where I’m a member of the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Lab. Here we play with cool things like drones, LiDAR, satellites, GIS, and more! Since spring 2016 I have been a Research Assistant working on a forestry project for the Department of Natural Resources. We are exploring the feasibility of using Aerial LiDAR and photography to characterize riparian forests in Washington State.

My more broad research goals are to further our understanding and capability of how emerging remote sensing technologies can bolster environmental efforts of public and non-profit organizations.